Vicki works in collaboration with, and under the direction of, attorneys and trust officers in Bowditch’s Estate, Financial & Tax Planning practice area. She is involved in client matters from the onset of a new assignment and enjoys working with her clients and attorneys to understand the needs of the client and the application of the law to their particular matter. Vicki works primarily with long-term-care and estate administration matters and strives to be open to the emotional needs of clients while processing matters as seamlessly and efficiently as conditions and circumstances will permit.
Vicki enjoys the challenges and satisfaction of working with clients seeking help for loved ones. One recent case was an application to MassHealth for long-term-care benefits under the Frail Elder Waiver Program, to cover the home health care and personal care attendant services for the client’s mother. Her mother is an 84 year old woman who suffers from late stage Alzheimer’s who was able to live at home because of the assistance of her husband, who himself is 91 years old. While the application was pending, her mother was hospitalized, then transferred to a long-term-care facility, which changed her needs. A revised application request was necessary which involved tight deadlines to change the benefits to long-term-care.
This work involved addressing new planning matters for the client’s father, and constant communication with the client for additional documents and information to provide to MassHealth – including prior gifting of real estate to the couple’s disabled son. There were complications with the processing of the application, including a significant delay in assigning a caseworker, which made it difficult to communicate with MassHealth and resulted in multiple additional requests for information and stress to the client’s elderly father. The application was ultimately approved for the requested date of eligibility, providing care for the client’s mother and relief for the family.
Besides work
When not working and tending to family, Vicki enjoys working with and in local community theaters in multiple roles, both on and off stage.